ABSTRACT
The speeches of Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Nasrallah, have been integral to the Party’s ability to secure and maintain its role as a resistance movement, its legitimacy as a political party in Lebanon, and its influence as a non-State actor in the region. Indeed, Lina Khatib and colleagues have asserted that the popular support of Lebanese Shi’ites enjoyed by Hezbollah is due in no small part to the Party’s construction of the religious-historical narrative of Shi’ism as a social, cultural, and political force of resistance in Lebanon. This chapter will first establish the personal attributes of Nasrallah and the role they play in his effectiveness as a consummate orator. I will then shift the focus to an analysis of the content and context of Nasrallah’s speeches from 2000 to 2013. After identifying the key themes of his speeches, I will provide an in-depth examination of the way in which Nasrallah uses rhetorical devices and context to imbue religious elements into Hezbollah’s everyday politics to mobilise supporters.
